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Interview
Tai Chi Helps to Keep Me Young
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interviewed by Instructor Lis
Susan
trained as an athlete and gymnast when she was young. When she began
Tai Chi in 2000, it wasn’t difficult for her physically or in terms of
coordination, because of her earlier training. Now in her late forties,
her body has retained its fitness and relative flexibility as she ages.
Her biggest challenge came from the Qigong, learning to relax the mind
and to relax internally.
Perseverance is something she learned through her early athletics
training. It is an aspect of her personality she is pleased to see
manifesting itself in her sons, as they grow into young men. She
continued practising the Qigong, believing Brett when he said it would
be beneficial. She gradually began to appreciate the value of Qigong
more and more as her form and practice improved. She feels strongly
that “all students need to go through this internal training to go
deeply into the movements. If you don’t, you don’t understand your Tai
Chi.”
When
she started with the Academy in 2000, she learned the traditional Yang
Style and a Qigong technique called Embracing the Tree. Some time
later, she missed a
few terms. When she returned to classes in 2004, we were teaching Hun
Yuan Tai Chi and the current Qigong sets. “I had to start as a beginner
again, but I found it much easier the second time. I understood the
importance of the Qigong as well, but the exercises were easier to relax
into. I didn’t find the Hun Yuan Tai Chi difficult to learn after
learning the Yang style.”
Susan
attends class twice each week, and her family knows Mondays and
Wednesdays are her nights out. “It’s become a habit, but I like the way
things change all the time. Every class, I watch Brett to learn
something new. I see how low he goes and try to go just a little bit
lower myself. I am amazed at how different it makes the form. It’s
like learning something new all over again. That’s one of the reasons I
keep coming to class — to keep learning.”
Susan
has always been aware of her posture and naturally holds herself
straight. However, she has become much more aware of little aches and
pains or tensions in her body as she gets older. “My job involves
sitting either at my desk or in a car, and sometimes my back will feel
stiff. I do some Tai Chi exercises and the pain dissolves very quickly
in, at most, a day or two. All my work colleagues often complain about
back and neck pain. I tell them to do Tai Chi, and I also point out how
sitting with a straight spine is important – ‘sit as though you’re
standing’ and they think I’m crazy.” But Susan’s back isn’t chronically
sore.
“I walk
for an hour every morning, regardless of the weather. Every morning.
Sometimes, my twenty one year old son comes with me, and I’m glad he is
learning to care for his health. I haven’t convinced either son to take
up Tai Chi yet although they have done martial art. They think I’m too
small to use Tai Chi applications on them …… but they haven’t seen the
way that Brett demonstrates!
We live
near a mountain and I love to walk up to the top and do my practice in
my special space. It’s my own serene spot and it’s beautiful.”
(This is an actual interview, but the name
has been changed for reasons of privacy.)
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